fitbit v jawbone up v others your opinions?

I have a fitbit zip and a new balance N4 heart rate monitor with chest strap.

For tracking daily activity and giving motivation, the FitBit zip so far is awesome (and I've only had it 3 days!) It's not going to be quite as accurate on the calorie burn as other things for sure, but it is extremely affordable and simple to use. I wear it on my bra or in my pocket. For me, I think the FitBit zip is going to be more useful overall and it also works with most phones (make sure to check their compatibility page before you buy it though, it is not compatible with all). I love the dashboard because if I've been active at least 30 minutes that day, it cheers me up with it's big smile and "hooray!" and if I've reached my 10k or more steps, it pats me on the back for that too. I am a very visual person, and the online dashboard and phone app are very visually pleasing and encouraging to me. I also like the pure simplicity of the Zip. You tap on it to get the display, which shows you 5 different screens: a face (happy or really happy or sticking its tongue out at you if you haven't walked around in a little while), total steps, estimated total calories burned, time, and estimated miles covered.

For tracking strictly exercise calories (fast walking, running, not so great for resistance training), I use the HRM. It has a chest strap and continuously reads your heart rate so you get what should be more accurate calorie burn information. I got the heart rate monitor a couple weeks ago and have enjoyed using it so far, although lately it's acting a little funny.. sometimes on fast walks at the gym it says my my heart rate is 90 for a few seconds and then jumps back up to 115 or wherever it was at, and does this several times during my workout. I'm not sure if it's getting interference from the machines or other people's HRMs, or I just need to clean/dry it a little better after workouts... I also found the HRM a little difficult to set up, it wasn't "hard" but it wasn't easy either. I still have to refer to the instructions often to make sure I'm using it correctly. Also it doesn't have a phone app to go with it, it's just the watch and the strap.

I find both extremely useful and both motivate me to exercise more, but so far I like the fitbit zip better. Of course it's all personal preference and largely depends on how you want to wear a device - wrist, bra, arm, etc. It also depends on what you are looking for ultimately - more accurate calorie burns while exercising, or more information about your activity throughout the day?

I can't speak for any other products other than the ones I've tried, but I suggest reading Amazon and REI reviews and blog posts about all the different products, it'll give you an idea of what kinds of problems people deal with for each product.

good luck!

I had a Jawbone UP for a few weeks, and then it stopped working. I had babied that sucker; it wasn't me; it was just a piece of crap. I now have a Fitbit One. It works great. It's even survived a dunk in the washing machine. After reaching my target weight, I've been maintaining within a pound or two either way for about eight months with the Fitbit as my guide. I use an alpha Mio HRM with Digifit for non-step-based activity such as rowing and Pilates, and database estimates for some activities such as weight lifting and Krav Maga.

I liked the Jawbone app a lot -- better than the Fitbit app, especially when it came to sleep tracking. But the Fitbit gives me feedback right on the device, which is highly motivating (if you must do the wrist-borne thing, look into the Force instead of the Flex), and the Fitbit app gets the job done.

Note that the UP band doesn't sync via Bluetooth; you have to plug it into your phone's headphone jack. The UP24 does sync via Bluetooth -- as do all the Fitbit devices.